Discuss the benefits and concerns of genetic engineering.

Crops that have had their genes modified are known as genetically modified (GM) crops. GM crops give increased yields. Increasing crop yields is especially important; it provides food security for a constantly growing world population, and also the farmer can make more money! Plants can be made resistant to attack by insects because they have been modified to produce their own pesticides. Also plants can be made more resistant that usual to some weed killers, which means it’s easier for farmers to spray and kill weeds without damaging their own crops. Less weeds means more nutrients, water, and in some cases light for the crop, which means they will be able to photosynthesize more and grow faster. The danger is however, is that if one of these GM crops was to reproduce with a weed, the offspring could be a sort of ‘super-weed’, which could lead to a dramatic problem. GM crops could be used in LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Country) where people often lack nutrients in their diets - GM crops could be genetically engineered to contain nutrients they’re missing. ‘Golden rice’, for example, has been created which contains a gene from carrots which encourages vitamin A production in the body. Vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness or even death, and in some areas in LEDCs, it's fairly common. Outlined in the introduction, selective breeding involves taking out ‘bad’ genes to produce ideal offspring. It can be used with herds of dairy cattle; milk yields can be increased by selecting top form bulls and breeding them with cows that have displayed the best milk production. Selective breeding can also be used to modify other characteristics of cattle.

As mentioned in the introduction, developments in genetic engineering have allowed actual human insulin to be produced on demand in the lab. Before this was possible, insulin was made from pigs, however it has a slightly different amino acid sequence, and some patients could not tolerate the fact it was from pigs. Because of increased research and development, human insulin eventually became cheaper than that extracted from the pig pancreas and it is now readily available. Also, vaccines can be produced by genetic engineering using cell cultures. It’s said in the future that vaccines could be integrated into crops, so for example, you’d just have to eat a banana to be vaccinated against malaria.

One of the main arguments against genetic engineering is the ethical issues involved; some people are concerned about the health risks of genetically modified food. Others think it’s wrong to move genes between different species, and that selective breeding violates animal rights as it involves manipulating animals for purely human benefit… Some people also argue that the whole idea of changing genes in both plants and animals is unnatural and that just this disturbs the delicate balance of biodiversity which exists in nature. They say that genes are supposed to be left solely to natural selection, which is a fair point. Another recognised problem, related to selective breeding, is that it reduces the gene pool. Future generations of selectively bred organisms will all share very similar genes, and this could make the herd more liable to certain diseases. Also some genes would be lost making it more difficult to produce new varieties in the future.

I believe that genetic engineering is a good thing, but only if it is moderated correctly. Admittedly, money is one of the major drivers of both selective breeding, and genetic engineering. If animal welfare and environmental standards are not to be compromised, research must be restricted and a counter-balancing ethical principle must be pushed forward to keep balance between profitability and ethicality. It can majorly increase crop yields, and genetic engineering, in my opinion is the key to solving things like world hunger, and malnutrition - the benefits outweigh the concerns.